Great news! Footprints project wins £374,000 Lottery award

Mon, 09/10/2017 - 1:54pm | timlenton

The 600 Paston Footprints project, which has been in a development stage for two years, has got a huge boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund – and it will enable people across the county and beyond to join up the dots in the Pastons' 300-year history.

A National Lottery grant of £374,400 has just been confirmed by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which means that doors will be opened to a new understanding of what made the Pastons tick, and the people they influenced.

The project, led by Dr Rob Knee, chair of the Paston Heritage Society, and Dr Karen Smyth of UEA, with the help of multiple partners, will cover a great deal of ground, ranging from digitally augmented reality to opening up access to ancient documents.

Thanks to National Lottery players, the HLF grant allows the project to engage with local “Paston” communities in Norfolk to produce the first-ever lasting, visible and accessible legacy of the amazing Paston story. Next year is also the 600th anniversary of the writing of the first of the world-famous medieval Paston Letters (the earliest collection of family letters in the world), and will be celebrated with a festival, including many performances, workshops, exhibits and alternative story-telling formats.

During its two-year development phase, the project has grown and been enriched through the process of public consultation. Further collaborations have been established with Broadland District Council, North Norfolk District Council, Norfolk Libraries, the Diocese of Norwich, Norwich Writers’ Centre and a number of churches, schools and local community organisations. A project manager will be appointed to oversee the project.

A key feature of the National Lottery-funded project will be free opportunities for the public to work alongside and be supported by agencies such as archivists at The Norfolk Record Office, St Peter Hungate Medieval Museum in Norwich, Community Action Norfolk, The Norfolk Heraldry Society, professional dramatists, artists and writers, the Paston Heritage Society and academics from the UEA.

The 600 Paston Footprints Project will, over a three-year period, engage with 11 key centres in Norfolk (Paston, Bacton, North Walsham, Gresham, Mannington, Oxnead, Hellesdon, Blofield, Mautby/Caister, Norwich and Dereham) to work with and support local community groups, schools, walkers, churches, museums and the owners of key sites, to provide resources, information boards, events, activities, workshops, podcasts, booklets, and maps of heritage trails and cycle routes.

The National Lottery grant will also enable state-of-the-art 3D digital reconstructions of Paston properties and to develop a website that finally provides a comprehensive resource for all those, in Norfolk and across the world, who have an interest in the Paston story. The site will also provide digitised versions of the two 17th century collections totalling over 1,000 letters.

Robyn Llewellyn, Head of HLF East of England, said: “The Paston Letters are a truly fascinating record of a local family’s extraordinary journey from peasantry to aristocracy. I’m delighted that money raised by National Lottery players can support UEA and the Paston Heritage Society to make this collection accessible through digitisation and an immersive programme of events, particularly ahead of the 600th anniversary next year.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about – from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery and #HLFsupported.